Posts Tagged Physical exercise

Fitting back into those jeans usually only requires a fraction of the time it took to pop the buttons. We can spend countless days, months, or even years ignoring our ever increasing belt size, and learning to conceal chubbiness. Some of us may even go through the traumatic experience of completely breaking off our relationship with the scale. When we’re overcome by the urge for sudden change, we want results yesterday! Our impatience sometimes drives us to accept the unbelievable.

I’ve seen so many claims that getting in shape or losing weight can be done in minutes a day. Yeah, it really can be done in just minutes a day… not two or three, but about twenty to sixty. Overnight results are so desirable, that if the fine print… (diet and consistent cardiovascular exercise not included), was flashing in neon we would totally ignore it. The real problem is mismanagement of exercise time – for some people a trip to the gym is like happy hour, the problem is, mingling doesn’t burn quite as many calories as real exercise. Some gyms even have “cardio theaters” in them, thinking you’ll be there long enough to watch a movie, yikes!! Nobody likes the thought of a seemingly never-ending workout, or doing cardio until the cows come home.

It’s no wonder “in just minutes a day” is a buzz phrase that instantly freezes the thumb on a TV remote, and can even sell shoes that promise to tone your butt… imagine that!! Don’t get me wrong – doing anything for ten minutes a day vs. sitting and eating chips from the bag is a definite improvement, but major results usually require big changes. Most people can’t go from the couch to a 5k overnight, or from Fatburgers to steamed veggies in a day, permanently! The best way to get there is by setting a series of small short term goals that eventually take you all the way to big changes. I recommend a balance, somewhere between complete laziness, and overdoing it. Above all, be consistent, even if it’s only twenty minutes a day, and don’t let yourself get away with anything. Here are a few tips for getting it going, and keeping it going…